Bike Review: Haibike Xduro AllMtn 6.0

HAIBIKE XDURO ALLMTN 6.0

Sending it over the desert. Don’t worry, the suspension can easily handle this level of abuse!Photo courtesy: Haibike

Back in 2010 the German Haibike brand was one of the first to enter the market with a complete line of electric mountain bikes, and they continue to innovate. Although they have an expansive line in Europe, their American division only brings over the bikes that they think will work best for the domestic market.

Originally, their Sduro line was based on all the bikes with a Yamaha PW-series motor, while the Xduro bikes all had Bosch CX motors. However, recently Haibike moved away from that motor-dedicated nomenclature, as the Sduro line includes either motor, but rather defines bikes with a tighter, steeper, more responsive geometry that’s ideal for tighter turns and less technical terrain. Conversely, the Xduro line also has either Bosch or Yamaha motors, but features more slack geometry to be more forgiving on steeper downhill and technical terrain.

THE BIKE

The aluminum Xduro AllMtn 6.0 is part of Haibike’s Advanced Off-Road line, which also includes downhill and enduro models. Where the previous iteration of this bike had a Yamaha motor, the new version comes with a Bosch Performance Line CX powerplant.

THE PARTS

Fox Float suspension is used throughout the bike, including a DPX2 Performance Elite air shock in the back that offers 150mm of travel. Setting sag and rebound is easy with this setup. The front suspension travel was increased from 150mm to 160mm, via a Fox 36 Float Performance Elite fork.

“This bike made it so much fun to get wet and muddy!”

There are a number of Haibike-branded parts, like the very soft and grippy grips and equally grippy Haibike Freeride flat pedals that offer a really solid platform. The 780mm-wide bars are part of the “wider is better” trend these days, and they help provide excellent control and stability.

Though some brake levers can be adjusted for reach, most require tools to do so. The TRP Spec S levers have adjuster knobs that you can adjust with your fingers. The bike is outfitted with quad-piston brakes, front and rear. Cables are routed mostly internally.

DT Swiss wheels, with 35mm rims and Boost-width thru-axle hubs would prove to be sturdy and stay true through a beating and offered a nice, wide contact patch when fitted with the Maxxis Minion 27.5-plus-inch tires.

A remote-controlled Kind Shock LEV-DX dropper seatpost kept the saddle out of our way when we wanted it and brought it up quickly for climbs.

THE MOTOR

Power assist is provided by a Bosch Performance Line CX 250W mid-drive motor. This is one of the most reliable motors on the market. There are four levels of assist; Eco, Tour, e-MTB and Turbo. Eco offers 50 percent of power, Tour gives you 120 percent, and Turbo gives you 300 percent of your leg input. E-MTB mode measures your own torque input (measured 1000 times per second) and gives you from 120 to 300 percent, steplessly, depending on how hard you’re pedaling. It’s very intuitive.

Meaty Maxxis Minion DH tires provided plenty of grip in the muddy SoCal trails. They’re 27.5×2.8, and that extra volume was forgiving with all the new rocks on the trail.

Interestingly, since we received the very first production model of this bike, it had Sport mode, which was locked at 190 percent. This could be fixed at a Bosch bike dealer, but if you read below, we didn’t really need it.

The Purion display is a display and controller in one, with the buttons to control power-assist level right by your left thumb. There’s an easy-to-use Walk mode for when you have to hike with the bike. It’s good on flat ground or a slight incline, but it isn’t much use on a steeper incline, it just doesn’t offer the power to move the bike well.

A slack front end and a Fox Float 36 Elite fork kept us out of trouble on the ruts and rocks on the trail.

The battery is a Bosch PowerTube. Their 500-watt battery fits into the downtube of a bike. It makes for a fat downtube, but certainly looks better than the battery mounted on top of a frame-tube look of old. The bike ships with a 4A fast charger that can fully charge the battery from 0 to 100 percent in under 4 hours.

WHO IT’S MADE FOR

The AllMtn 6.0 is the highest-spec Xduro eMTB that Haibike sells in North America. It’s an extremely capable bike for experienced all-mountain riders who like challenging, technical rides. With 160mm of travel in the front and 150mm in the rear, it’s ready for anything you can throw at it.

THE RIDE

We loved the gear range of the SRAM Eagle drivetrain. With a 16-tooth front sprocket and a 50-tooth large rear cog, we were astonished at how steep an incline this bike could handle. On one occasion we had to climb out of a steep canyon on a trail that was rutted in places from the rain, but the suspension made light work of that.

It was very steep and lots of loose rock, so we were spinning the back tire slightly. Surprisingly, even when the bike hooked up, the front end didn’t come off the ground. There was no inkling of ever looping out, something that’s always confidence-inspiring on a bike. We got back up to the trail, and took all but one of the steepest climbs, just because we could.

The SRAM Eagle cassette provided such a great gearing range that we did most of the ride in Tour mode and sometimes Eco, rarely touching the higher modes. That’s something we don’t often do, because why not use the power when you have it? Shifting was perfect. The Eagle setup only does one shift per lever throw, and the CX constantly monitors torque, so it cuts for an almost indiscernible split second to reduce strain on the drivetrain during a shift.

The SRAM GX Eagle group gave us all the range we needed for even the steepest hill. That 50T cog came in really handy!

Dropping into the trail, it was more technical than usual and downright scary, since there had been a lot of rock slides. Some of those rocks really tested the suspension, but it got us through unscathed. We stopped to move some of the bigger stuff off the trail as we went.

Further down the trail, where a series of singletrack trails weave through a larger fire road, there were massive ruts and deep water. Some of the ruts were 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep. We were able to fully test the suspension, the grip of the tires, the brakes, and even the IP54 rating of the motor and battery. This bike made it so much fun to get wet and muddy! The condition of the trails were bad, but we didn’t have to worry as the bike never flinched.

Big gaps? No worries. This bike is as capable as the person at the controls. Photo courtesy: Haibike

THE VERDICT

Our normal trails would have tested this bike. The conditions we rode in were far beyond what we normally do to test bikes, and we can honestly say that the AllMtn 6.0 passed it all with flying colors. It’s very sturdily built, plenty of suspension and grip, and though it’s not cheap, with the higher-end components, it is a lot of bike for the money.